An Imperial Artoo
by SparrowHawkX49
Summary: An alternative universe where Artoo was rearranged to be a loyal Imperial. Artoo finds himself tied up in the rebellion, and his loyalty to Vader is strained. The rebellion has a strong effect on Artoo, and he eventually sees the light. Spoiler: Luke is barely in this at all.
1. Leia

Artoo whistled happily. Ani had found him. Ani looked different. When Artoo had inquired about the suit, Ani had told him that Master Kenobi was evil and had nearly killed him. This made Artoo very angry. Artoo had liked Master Kenobi. There was a pale man who was also nearly dead. He was once Chancellor, but Ani called him Emperor. Artoo had been given a new paint job to blend in with the other Astromechs. The Emperor had told him that there was a threat to Ani that only Artoo could fix. At first Artoo had wondered at the changes in Ani, but a quick re-arranging of memory had fixed that. Artoo was to go to Ani's home and kill a boy. He was not to tell anyone of his mission.

The Tatooine wind blew on Artoo. Artoo was black now, with red lines. But his dome was gold with red. He was on the farm where the boy lived and his sniper was at the ready. Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him.

"You lost, little guy?" asked a young voice behind him. He quietly hid the muzzle of his sniper behind a door. The speaker was a young woman with dark brown hair and chestnut eyes. She reminded him of his Mistress.

" _Who are you and what do you want?"_ he asked.

"I'm Leia. you look like a droid my father used to talk about. He was called R2-D2."

" _Your father or the droid?"_ asked Artoo. He did not mention that she was talking about him. She laughed.

"The droid. You're funny. What are you up to around here?" Artoo pondered the question. He knew that he couldn't just tell her, as that would be against orders.

" _I'm here to eliminate a threat to my master. Why are you here?"_

"Can I trust you?"

" _Of course."_

" I'm going to take you home. If you don't like it, I'll rewire you. I'm here to eliminate a threat to the galaxy." Artoo laughed. He then agreed to go with… Leia. There was something about that name...


	2. Memories and the Force

"Artoo!" yelled the man in the coat. The fact that half of the people that he met knew him was getting on his nerves. "Artoo, it's been so long! I've wondered about you. Been undercover as an Imperial, I see. Just like you. I can't believe it! Oh, Artoo, it's just wonderful to see you again!"

" _Who are you?"_ asked Artoo.

"Don't you remember me? You can't forget things! You're a droid! So you should…

no. Oh no no no…" The man started to weep, and Leia walked over to him.

"What's wrong, father?"

"Come to my room. I'll tell you there." Artoo waited till they had gone, and then followed cautiously. He started a transmission to Ani, and warned him to be silent. He told him that he was eavesdropping on what might be rebel activity. What followed was this:

Bail: Leia, long ago there was a man named Anakin Skywalker. He had a droid called-

Leia: -Artoo Detoo. I know. But that was a good droid. What's his deal? I thought he knew you!

Bail: He did. But I think he was reprogrammed. He should be on our side. I'm going to replace everything in him with his original memory, if I can. Meanwhile, we need to keep an eye on him. Padme had a device that would add anything in his memory banks to a data file. This will fix him.

Leia: Good.

Artoo was worried. Ani had gone away, and Leia was acting strange. He for some reason felt obligated to, so he took a blood sample. She was intensely powerful, and didn't know it. He made up his mind to find those memories. And the man, called Bail, had mentioned Mistress. Artoo was worried.

He crept down a hall in the strange forest base. He peeked into Bail's quarters and cleared the room. Then he looked around for the memory unit. He checked everywhere and finally found a disk. He put it in a storage compartment and turned to go.

As Artoo watched his lost memories he would have cried had he been able. But he was still loyal to Ani. He would show Ani what had happened and Ani would help get rid of the master Emperor. First, Artoo must find a way to teach Leia the ways of the Force. And Artoo was not exactly suited for that. He had His memories of Ani teaching Snips, of Master Kenobi teaching Ani, even of Ani teaching Master Kenobi.

He had gained the trust of the rebellion through data revelations about weaponry and such, but Leia trusted him as soon as she caught him watching his own memory. At first he had been sure it was lies, but it rang true.

Just then Ani contacted him. He was trying to learn to resist, but his programming went against it. Leia walked in.

"Whatcha doin', Artoo?" she asked, and then she realized what was going on. She kept silent, and Artoo was grateful.

"Who was that?" came Vader's voice over the com.

" _No one of consequence, Lord. I will dispose of her immediately."_ He shot his blaster into the roof. Leia gave an unrealistic death cry.

" _She is gone, my Lord."_

"Good. See that no one finds her body, and find out what planet you are on. I need to know!"

" _Yes, my Lord. Over and out."_

"Over and out."

Leia sighed as soon as the transmission ended.

"So, how was my yell?"

" _Terrible,"_ he said, " _But it worked. Watch these."_ He tossed her a package full of lessons that he had compiled. " _I'll try to bring you a real teacher soon. We're off to Tatooine."_

"Alright. Don't tell Dad, I assume?"

" _Good heavens no. What do you think I was programmed to be, honest?"_ Leia laughed. He liked it when she did that. " _We'll take a big ship at midnight. Stay up and watch the lessons."_

"I'll be there.(to self) I can't wait to learn this stuff!"


	3. Kenobi off a Dusty Rock

Artoo steered the ship towards the sand planet. " _Remember, we have to find a crazy old man in the Jundland Wastes. He'll teach you how to use your powers."_

"Will he agree to do so?"

" _With my new paint job, he'll recognize me."_ Leia was silent. She had left her father without asking before, and that wasn't bothering her. There was something about this planet…

" _Approaching atmosphere in 06...05...04...03...02...01...00...Hold tight, there's a dust storm raging right now."_ The ship was blown off course by the winds, and Artoo had to wrestle for control. Leia was biting her nails, and Artoo yelled to her to grab something and prepare for impact. " _Get to the back of the ship!"_ he yelled. As they fought their way back, Leia noticed a large crate heading straight for Artoo. She had become quite attached to the little droid, and didn't want to lose him. She reached out, trying to remember what had been in the lessons. She managed to shove the crate away before it hit him, but it nearly exhausted her entirely.

She was faintly aware of an enormous noise and being jarred into reality, but soon she drifted back off to sleep.

She woke up to see Artoo and an old man bending over her.

"Careful now, don't strain yourself," he said kindly, but there were tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she managed. The man remained silent. Tears now openly running down his face.

"He is gone," he muttered, "but perhaps you are my second chance."

Later, Artoo explained that their ship had impacted on a dwelling where someone extremely important to the man had lived. The man was Obi-wan, and he had started teaching her the basics of the Force. There was a lot of sitting on the floor, studying old books, and whatnot, but Leia most enjoyed two things. Helping Artoo build a shelter, and studying old journals detailing the construction of a Lightsaber. There had been one in Obi-Wan's house, but the house had also been destroyed in the crash. It was an enormous distance, but in the dust storm, as far as Artoo could tell, a chunk of the front of the ship had come off. It was a saddening thought, but in coming here to find Obi-Wan, they had destroyed almost everything he cared about.

Weeks later found the three of them in Mos Eisley, looking for a ride to Alderaan. A smuggler by the name of Solo had agreed to fly them there, but at great cost. They would have needed to sell something to get the money, but Artoo volunteered.

"Two thousand?" said the man buying. Parting with Artoo was hard on Leia, and she yelled at the man that she was of a mind to multiply the price times five. An angry girl with a blaster is a frightening sight, and it ended at four thousand.


	4. Solo, Stowaway, and a Journey

Leia was crying on the Holochess table, crying for Artoo, for Ben, for everything. Life was going rough on her. Just then the pilot walked into the room. He was a strange man, cocky, cheerful, arrogant. He was Han Solo.

"What's wrong, sister?" he asked, sitting down across from her.

"Nothing. It's none of your business. Why aren't you flying, anyway?" she said. It was cold, but she was angry. Angry at Ben, for letting her sell, Artoo, angry at herself, for selling him.

"I have something for you." he said. Who did this man think he was. You don't give presents to passengers. Maybe he was flirting. That just made her more angry. "I know you'll like this." he said, and she turned around. And there stood Artoo.

An hour later, Han came back into the room. He stowed away, and I was gonna blast him, but he was fixing a busted vent while he hid, and I couldn't do it." Artoo whistled appreciatively. Leia looked up at Han, blinking through tears and smiled. Some people in the galaxy still had hearts. It was good to know.

The three rebels stood on a desolate plain, a rare sight on Alderaan. Leia was holding a wooden sword, and Artoo was throwing things at her. Han was standing with Obi-Wan and Chewie.

"She's pretty good," Han said.

"She's rebellious." A piece of wood hit Leia in the side and she moaned the piece of wood went flying through the air and hit another projectile as Leia collapsed. Bail Oragana walked up ten minutes later to find Obi-Wan nursing a large bruise on Leia, and a smuggler having a conversation about the new Hyperdrive Model 6's.

"I don't care how small they are, they aren't nearly as fast as mine."

Artoo said something about starfighter models that would need the small size. Bail broke in.

"Is Leia okay?" he asked, eying han warily.

"She's been fine every other time. Same old thing. She'll get hit, do something magic, pass out, wake up, repeat." Bail smiled.

"Han."

Ben was in the doorway. "I need passage to Ilum. Can you get us there?"

"Yep. But that place gives me the chills. Literally." The old man almost smiled.


	5. Vision

As Leia stood next to Artoo and Ben in the cold, she shivered. They had been wandering for hours, and dodging imperial troops constantly wasn't easy. She lay down on a mat that was her bed at a temporary camp. She fell asleep, with Artoo watching. Ben was standing quietly. As she fell asleep, she heard a faint singing. Like someone loving her and caring for her when she was very small. She saw Vader, a beautiful woman, a blond boy, Ben, and other people. The singing seemed to come closer. It was in her dream, but it was so real. She reached out with her mind and searched for the source. Her mind's eye opened, and sped through winding canyons and caves. She finally came to a rest at the mouth of a strangely familiar cave. There was a glow in the back of the cave, and she reached for it. It was a green crystal. As soon as she touched it, she awoke. She looked around. Artoo was still there, with Ben, and they were still at the camp.

She could still hear the singing faintly. And she was going to get that crystal.

No matter what it took.


End file.
